Black Wolf

A dazzling new spy thriller about a female CIA agent whose extraordinary powers lead her into the dangerous heart of the Soviet Union - and the path of a killer that shouldn’t exist.

1990, Soviet Belarus. Melvina Donleavy is on her first undercover mission with the CIA, alongside three fellow agents - none of whom know she is playing two roles. To the prying eyes of the KGB, she is merely a secretary; to her CIA minders, she is the only one who can stop the flow of nuclear weapons from the crumbling Soviet Union to the Middle East.

For Mel has a secret: she is a ‘super recognizer’, someone who never forgets a face - an invaluable skill in her role. But no training could prepare her for the reality of life undercover, and for the streets of Minsk, where women have been disappearing. Soviet law enforcement is firm: murder is a capitalist disease. But could a serial killer be at work? Especially if he knew no one was watching?

As Mel searches for answers, she catches the eye of an entirely different kind of threat: the elusive and petrifying ‘Black Wolf’, head of the KGB. The Cold War may be coming to a close, but Mel’s troubles are only just beginning…

Filled with insider details from the author’s own time working under the direction of the U.S. Department of Defense, Black Wolf is a riveting new spy thriller from an Edgar-nominated crime writer, and a biting exploration of the divide between two nations, and two roles played by a woman pushed to her breaking point.